Jeff Shuford: 5 ways to develop a strong small business brand

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Wednesday

Aug 28, 2019 at 9:49 AM

If you want to build a successful small business, one of the wisest investments you can make in your future is to develop a recognizable brand. Customers and vendors tend to place greater trust in the brands they recognize. Understanding how to develop a strong brand as a small business owner is essential if you want to build confidence in your company. Integrate the following five tips into your brand development strategy and you’ll increase your odds of long-term business success.

Cohesive visual stylingOne of the simplest ways to develop a strong brand as a small business is to showcase cohesive visual styling across all brand outreach elements. From the images you share on your small business’ social media feeds to the header images you use on your company’s blog posts, develop a brand asset strategy for your images. This includes everything from the fonts you use to the types of images you share. Customers and vendors will soon start to recognize your posts simply because they all share the same strong visual characteristics. Be sure to develop visual styling guidelines, so all members of your team know how you want your brand to be portrayed visually.

Cohesive brand voiceYour tone should be the same regardless of whether you are posting on a Reddit forum or tweeting with your followers on Twitter. Small businesses with a cohesive brand voice are more likely to earn the respect of their audience. When your audience knows what to expect from you regardless of the outreach platform you’re using, they’re more likely to buy into what you’re saying.

Memorable taglineAnother excellent way to build a strong brand as a small business owner is to develop a memorable tagline for your company. The more energy you put into creating a memorable tagline for your brand, the likelier it is your brand statement will become instantly recognizable. “We sell widgets” is less likely to earn you loyal customers than “Uber for widgets” or “widgets as a service.” Focus on creating a rock-solid tagline for your small business if you want your branding strategy to work.

Storytelling rocksSmall businesses with exceptional storytelling skills tend to have more significant audience acquisition skills than those not capable of telling their own brand story. Whether it’s the blog posts, you offer on LinkedIn and Medium or the way you tell your company’s story on Facebook and Twitter, how you tell your small business’ story has a direct impact on your ability to acquire customers and increase sales.

Offline marketingmattersBuilding a strong brand as a small business isn’t just about how your company is perceived online. How your business behaves offline can have a considerable impact on your sales with local customers. Whether you participate in charitable events or host events for your community to attend, making an effort to build your brand offline can make or break your chances of small business success.

These five stellar ways to develop a strong brand as a small business owner should become part of your company’s overall marketing strategy. Understanding the critical elements of building a brand will stand you in good stead as you attempt to create a thriving small business.Jeff Shuford is president of Tech From Vets, an award winning veteran-owned technology company. Tech From Vets merges NFL veterans and military veterans in the tech industry and develops innovative websites and mobile applications for their clients nationwide.